Education

We track legislation, budgets, policies, events and other issues related to education at the state and federal levels with the aid of our Education Working Group. Each week, this team of volunteers shares news stories, research and other information on a range of educational issues, discusses which items are ripe for action, and writes calls to action (C2As) that inform others and offer suggested actions. Members volunteer about an hour a week–a little more if they are writing that week’s call to action–and conduct their business via a closed Facebook page. Our C2As are distributed to 15,000-20,000 Mainers each week via our email list, our member forum and our partnerships with other regional and state groups. You can read some of our most recent education C2As below.

If education is important to you and you have an hour or two to spare over an entire week, please email us at suitupmaine@gmail.com about joining our Education Working Group!

Maine’s child poverty rate is increasing eight times faster than the national average. A bill in the Maine legislature could help bring those numbers down by increasing parents’ access to educational and training opportunities.QUICK ACTION: Attend the LIFT 2.0 public hearing on Wednesday, February 14, and share your story with bill sponsors.

The Legislature is considering bills to ban food shaming in Maine public schools and to restore funding to 24 school-based health centers. QUICK ACTION: Attend public hearings on these bills and submit testimony in support of them.

Republicans in the legislature are balking at the voters’ repeated demand that the state fund 55% of the public school budget. Demand that the will of the voters be heard by attending the Fund Our Damn Schools rally in Augusta on Wednesday, May 31 and contacting your legislators to make sure they know that 55% state funding is critical to our state’s future.

In a recent budget hearing in the House of Representatives, Betsy DeVos indicated that she would not be opposed to allowing schools that engage in discrimination to receive federal funding. Contact Betsy DeVos, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, and your Members of Congress to let them know that this is unacceptable and that taxpayer money should never be given to schools that discriminate against any group of students or staff.

Suit Up Maine is an all-volunteer grassroots group of Mainers who work to raise awareness of and advocate for policies and legislation that promote equity and equality in civil rights, social justice, health care, the environment, education, the economy, and other areas that affect the lives of all people. We are beholden to issues and action, not parties or politicians, and we aren’t engaged in fundraising. Suit Up Maine fosters collaboration among our state’s progressive groups and organizations to collectively connect, educate, and motivate Mainers to rise in non-violent resistance to a regressive agenda.